Sept. 21, 2002

Final Stats

Springfield, Mo. - The Saint Louis University volleyball team fell in the championship match of the SMS Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational by a 3-1 count against the host Bears in Springfield, Mo. Game scores were 28-30, 30-26, 21-30, 16-30. Colleen Hunter and Jessica Kmitta were named to the all-tournament for the Billikens.

Game one was close and saw six ties in the early going, including at 7-7. The Bears tallied three straight points as the Billikens hurt themselves with two hitting errors for a 10-7 SMS lead. The Billikens closed to 12-11, but SMS responded and rebuilt another four-point lead. The Bears led 20-16, but the Billikens tallied two straight points on an SMS error and Jessica Kmitta kill. A Missy Werges service ace pulled the Bills to 20-19. The score was 22-21 SMS, when the Bears were the recipients of two fortunate bounces off the net and tallied three straight kills for a 25-21 lead. A Brooke Minniear solo block ended the SMS run and a Bears' hitting error brought SLU to 25-23. With SMS holding a 28-26 lead, a ball that appeared to be a free ball, instead fell in for a huge point for SMS. Kmitta drilled a kill to stave off game point, and followed with an ace to close the gap to 29-28. However, SMS' Erin Murphy struck the ball down the middle of the court to close out the game 30-28 for the Bears.

Game two was also close in the start and the game was tied at 6-6. SLU committed a hitting error to break the tie and the Bears tacked on three more points for a 10-6 lead. An SMS serving error ended the drought for SLU at 10-7. However, SMS ran off five more points in a row and took a commanding 15-7 lead. Alyson Merchant's kill ended the Bear run at 15-8. SMS lead 16-9 before the Billikens went on a 4-1 run and begin a huge rally. A kill by Ashley Hunter started the run and Werges' ace closed the gap to 17-13. Hunter notched a kill and teamed with Beth Middendorf on a block to pull the Billikens to 17-15. SMS answered with two straight points, but Hunter had two kills around two SMS hitting errors to tie the match at 19-19. Hunter and Middendorf teamed for another block to give the Billikens their first lead at 20-19. A Hunter kill pushed the Bills to 21-19. Minniear's kill made it 22-20, two SMS errors and Hunter kill launched the Billikens to a 25-20 advantage. The Bears responded with four straight kills and closed right back to 25-24. A Hunter kill followed by two straight Minniear kills staked SLU to a 28-24 advantage. A Billiken hitting error and SMS kill put the Bears back into the game at 28-26. Knobeloch killed a ball crosscourt and SMS hit a ball just wide to hand the Billikens a 30-26 win.

SMS seized the early lead with a 5-0 and eventually took a 7-2 lead. The Bears pushed out to a 10-3 lead but the Bills tallied three in a row to make it 10-6. SMS answered with a 4-0 run and eventually moved on to an 18-9 margin. The Billikens twice cut the deficit to six points but could not get any closer. SMS enjoyed the advantage for the rest of the game and held on for the 30-21 win. SMS' offense was outstanding in the game as the Bears hit .371 with 20 kills.

The Bears got off to another quick start in game four. After the teams split the first two points, SMS reeled off the next six points for a 7-1 margin. Hunter's kill ended the run for the Bears and keyed a 6-2 run for the Billikens. SLU got as close as 12-11 but SMS ran off three points in a row for a 15-11 lead. A Werges kill tallied a point the Billikens, but SMS tacked on another 4-0 run to make it 19-12. SMS led 21-14 before putting the game away. The Bears had four straight kills and the Billikens hurt themselves with three consecutive errors as SMS closed out the match 30-16. The Bears had 16 kills, while the Billikens had only eight kills and committed nine errors.

Hunter notched a double-double with a match-high 18 kills, added 11 digs and seven blocks. Jessica Kmitta led the Bills with 12 digs and Brooke Minniear added eight kills and 11 digs. Linettte White paced SMS with 15 kills while Leah Johnson had a match-high 17 digs. SMS hit .193 and had 21 more kills than the Billikens.

The Billikens saw their three-match winning steak end and dip to 9-5 on the season while the Bears improve to 9-3. Saint Louis returns home on Wed., Sept. 25, when it hosts Loyola for a 6 p.m. match.